The Dragon's Eye Part II
by WayTooManyOstriches
Summary: After a seven year wait, Ranma and Kiagi are ready to do battle again, this time as friendly rivals. Has Ranma finally mastered the Cat-Fist? And if so, does Kiagi have a way to counter it? Find out the answers to this and more as we once again enter The Dragon's Eye!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

As the sun shone brightly over the town of Nerima, a calm and peaceful aura emanated throughout. The birds sang and the streets were quiet. It was as if the entire population were busy elsewhere. That was because they were of course.

While nobody occupied the streets, one particular establishment was full as the majority of the townsfolk were crowded into an arena hidden in the back of the now famous Dragon's Eye Magic Store which for the past eight years had been solving problems here and causing new ones there.

The reason as to why everyone was jam-packed into this arena was simple. To bear witness to the rematch of the century. And as the match reached its second hour, it became clear that it was well worth the eight year wait.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, can you believe the action we are seeing today?" The Announcer shouted as the crowd around him began to wave and cheer. "We are currently in the second hour of this epic encounter between two of the most extraordinary martial artists of our age."

Before he could continue however, the announcer was hit by a massive shockwave which came from the fighting stage and blew both him and the entire audience about five feet back. "My goodness, ladies and gentlemen." He said as he managed to climb back into his seat. "Did you feel the shockwave cause by the collision of these two fierce warriors? This fight is truly an amazing match!"

"It seems as though Kiagi has been preparing eagerly for this fight, doesn't it Saotome?" Soun said as he wiped away his spilled beer. "The boy has his work cut out, doesn't he?" Wiping away the rest of Soun's beer the panda simply nodded his head.

"Wow! Daddy's doing great other there, isn't he mom?" Kaori said admiring her father's skills as she eagerly sat on the edge of her seat. As she saw the look on her daughter's face, Akane couldn't help smiling to herself. "He sure is Kaori." She answered "And that's what I love him for."

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" a little boy cried from his seat. "Settle down, Jiro." Akari said placing her hand on her son's shoulder as she tried to calm him down. "It's ok, Akari." Ryoga said ruffling Jiro's hair. "He's just getting excited, there's nothing to worry about."

"Such speed and ferocity." Tatewaki said admiring the fight. "To think all the times I thought I could ever contend against the likes of Ranma Saotome. I didn't stand a chance!"

"Very few stand a chance against Ranma." Nabiki said leaning into her husband's side. "But you've always seemed to hold your own, somehow." After hearing this, Tatewaki was left at a loss for how to react. "I'm not sure if that was a compliment or an insult, dear." He said wrapping his arm around his wife.

Suddenly, another shockwave hit the air and the force of the collision emanated throughout the arena. "Holy Moses!" The announcer said as he once again climbed back up into his seat and straightened his glasses. "This fight just seems to be getting better and better, folks. But as these two continue to lock horns, one has to be thinking the same questions that we are. How do they have the energy for this fight? How long will they keep this up for? Can we survive any more of these shockwaves? Hopefully the answer to these will come about as we prepare ourselves for the rest of this amazing battle between two extraordinary fighters!"


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"This has been quite an encounter, my friend." Kiagi said smiling as he broke off for a moment to catch his breath. "It was certainly worth the wait." Breathing just as heavily, Ranma was also in a state satisfaction. "I gotta say, Kiagi." He said, panting as he took in what had already been the fight of his life. "I think I'm enjoying this just as much as you are. You ready to go again?"

Kiagi chuckled as he took his stance again. "I was beginning to think you'd never ask." He said as he lunged towards his opponent and released a heavy barrage of attacks. As each strike found its target, Ranma launched his own counterattack and threw hits just as quickly as he took them.

As they continued to trade blows with one another, Ranma and Kiagi came to the same conclusion that simply trading strikes wasn't going to win this fight. Jumping back Kiagi cupped his hands in front of himself and summoned his chi "Wrath of the Dragon!" he shouted as the red energy blast fired its way from the sorcerer's hands and towards Ranma who immediately conceived his counter attack. "Moko Takabisha!"

The two beams met each other in the centre of the stage and clashed with a severe explosion of intensity. Pushing each other back and forward, Ranma and Kiagi traded dominance over each other back and forth. First Ranma, then Kiagi. Then Ranma again, then Kiagi again.

_He's still using this attack? _Kiagi thought to himself as he prepared to make his next move. _Here we go again. _Sensing that history was about to repeat itself, Ranma watched as Kiagi broke of his attack. _That's it, _He thought to himself as Kiagi made his way across the stage. _Just a little more. _

Darting across the stage Kiagi expected to give Ranma a surprise attack like last time. But to his surprise, Ranma broke off his beam just as he came close enough and turned to deliver a vicious uppercut, knocking the sorcerer to the ground. "Not this time, Kiagi." He said wiping Kiagi's blood off his knuckles. "Not this time."

Amidst his surprise (and aching jaw), Kiagi couldn't help but smile. "So you do learn from your mistakes." He said jumping to his feet and spitting out a small amount of blood. "But I thought I warned you about using emotion based Chi attacks."

"You did." Ranma answered, smiling. "That's why I didn't use one. I worked out the kinks of my attack so that it doesn't need any confident Chi."

"You baited me in, didn't you?" Kiagi asked to which Ranma simply nodded. "Well I must say you truly are an anomaly."

Upon hearing this Akane smiled as she sat in the audience and watched. "You see that, Kaori?" she asked laying a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "That's what makes your dad as good as he is." Kaori said nothing. She was far too entranced by the match to pay any notice to what her mother was saying. Patting her stomach, Akane hoped that baby Saotome No. 2 was listening and paying attention as well as their big sister.

"I'm amazed at how well you've improved, Ranma." Kiagi said as a faint red glow began to form around him. "But I've hardly been slacking myself."

"I'm glad to hear it." Ranma said as he formed a white aura and took a very strange stance. "But you ain't seen nothing yet." _That stance..._Genma thought to himself as he watched Ranma's movements with great interest. _What are you planning, boy?_

Ranma's plans began to take form as he disappeared from sight much to the surprise and confusion of Kiagi. "What the hell?" he asked to himself as he looked around to try and find his opponent. "Ranma? Where did you go?"

Suddenly Kiagi felt what could only be described as a sledgehammer-like crash in his torso. The pain of which brought the sorcerer to his knees. "I don't understand." He said to himself as he spat out more blood and clutched his ribcage tightly. "What kind of technique is this?"

"The Umi-Sen-Ken" Genma finally said, crossing his arms as he looked on disapprovingly. "I never expected my son to use such a wicked and dastardly technique. How could he possibly resort to using this vile and hideous ability? Who could ever be so desperate?"

"Hold on a minute." Akane said, turning around from her seat to face her father in law. "Didn't you create the Umi-Sen-Ken as a way to burgle people's houses?" The sudden sound of splashing water was all the answer she needed. _Don't look at me. _Genma signed _I'm just a cuddly innocent panda._ "See that's what I thought."

"An invisibility trick." Kiagi said as he finally managed to work out Ranma's attack. Clenching his fist, he summoned a large amount of chi and forced it into his hand. "Let's see how well you do when neither of us can see!" He then drove his fist into the ground and caused several tiles to disintegrate into a thick white smoke.

"Uh-oh." Mu Tsu said as he straightened his glasses. "Things aren't looking to good now. Ryoga nodded as he looked on at the dense fog which now dominated the fighting stage. "I guess it's a level playing field now." He answered.

Inside the fog, Ranma tried desperately to grasp his bearings. "This is bad." He said dropping the Umi-Sen-Ken as he suddenly became the victim of an extremely strong kick. "I concur." Kiagi answered from within the smokescreen. "Without our sight, we're now on an even level. Your little invisibility trick will be of no use."

The action became slow and methodical as both fighters carefully made their way around each other. The tension was fierce as neither Ranma nor Kiagi knew where the other one was and knew even less about whether they were in danger of a ring out!

Indeed, the tension was well and truly fierce within the fighting stage. Outside of the stage however, the crowd were becoming restless and impatient.

"I can't see!"

"Where are they?"

"This thing's been going on for hours, are they done yet?"

"I'm bored!"

"These people have no sense of patience." Soun said as he looked around at the crowd surrounding him. "It's nothing but a sheer disrespect for the art." Genma nodded as he poured a kettle of hot water onto himself. "It's true, Tendo." He said crossing his arms. "But at the same time, I'd like to know what's going on inside that smoke. Also, I think my butt's fallen asleep."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Within the thick white smoke, Kiagi planned his movements carefully. _Where are you, Ranma? _He thought to himself as he braced for an attack with every turn. Closing his eyes, he focused his energy in the hopes of finding his opponent. But alas, Ranma's energy was nowhere to be found. _He must be using his little invisibility trick again. Luckily, I have a plan for such an occasion._

Kiagi then pushed out his energy further across the stage and into the crowd. As it hit each person in the audience, the energy bounced its way back to Kiagi and then bounced back into the crowd.

"Did you feel that? Mu Tsu said leaning forward to speak to Ryoga. Ryoga nodded nervously as he stared into the fog. "It was like Kiagi just pushed my heart." He said placing his hand on his chest. "What do you think he's up to?"

"No idea." Mu Tsu answered. "Perhaps he's trying to push Ranma out of the ring."

"No way." Ryoga said shaking his head. "Even he's not strong enough to do that."

Just then, a gold ball of light shot through the smoke across the stage and exploded at the other side of the platform blowing all the fog away with its shockwave. As the smoke cleared, Ranma was finally spotted lying in a smoking crater. His clothes, tattered and torn, were still smoking as a result of Kiagi's energy blast. On the other side of the stage Kiagi's hand smouldered as he began to smile with satisfaction. "Gotcha!" he said chuckling slightly.

"I don't believe it, Saotome!" Soun said in shock. "How on earth did he find Ranma?"

"I don't know, Tendo." Genma said with a puzzled look on his face. "The boy was still using the Umi-Sen-Ken. He should have been completely invisible.

Ranma was in shock as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I don't understand." He said examining his now destroyed shirt. "How the heck did you do that? I was invisible."

"Invisible, but not gone." Kiagi said "It's true, you were impossible to see or sense so you would have left me blind. This is why I decided to even the playing field. But then of course, we were both blind and eventually one of us would have fallen out of the ring."

"Yeah, things could have gone horribly wrong there, Kiagi." Ranma said grinning. "Not your best idea."

"Indeed." Kiagi answered "Which is why I decided to find you. So I extended my aura throughout the entire arena so that I could see without my eyes. You may not have been giving off any energy, but you body is still made of solid matter. Matter which can repel my aura back to me and give away your position."

"Sonar." Akane said taking in what her employer said and figuring it out for herself and Kaori. "He used his battle aura like a sonar signal to find you father." Kaori tilted her head in confusion. "What's sonar, mom?" she asked turning around to face her mother.

"It's what submarines use to find their way around in the water." Akane explained. "Bats do it too in the forest at night because they're blind."

"So that's how you did it?" Ranma said tearing away his ruined shirt. "Well you're just full of surprises, ain't ya?"

"That's my style." Kiagi said"I always like to keep you on your toes. Are you ready to go again?"

"Damn straight." Ranma said, cracking his knuckles before launching himself towards his opponent at lightning speed. Throwing his hands in front of him, Kiagi tried to block what he thought was going to be a punch. But instead, he was surprised to see blood flying from his arms like a fountain at first but the steady trickle dripping from his elbows.

_What on earth? _He thought to himself recoiling from Ranma's attack and staring at the deep cuts in his arms. _He can switch to Cat-Fist at will now? Incredible._

"So you've finally mastered it then?" Kiagi asked staring at the blood on his wrists "I must say, I honestly didn't think it was possible. You truly are one of a kind, Ranma."

Ranma simply grinned and moved himself into an attacking stance. "Surprised you didn't I" he asked as he began to strafe around his opponent like a cat playing with a mouse. Little did he know that this particular mouse had sharper teeth than expected.

"Indeed you did" Kiagi said raising his hand and conjuring a ball of energy. "But I have a few surprises of my own left."

He then threw the ball into the air and took a deep breath as he waited for it to come back down. _Hopefully, this won't mess me up too badly._ He thought to himself as he prepared to take the full force of the oncoming energy. The collision caused a massive shockwave of light and heat which soon began to dominate the fighting stage_. I don't like the looks of this_ Ranma thought to himself as he watched Kiagi's silhouette disappear in the light.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Watching the spectacle take place in front of them, the audience were in awe. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears as though Kiagi has become engulfed in a blinding light" The announcer said placing a hand over his forehead. "What could this possibly mean for the Cat-Fist master; Ranma Saotome?"

Suddenly a massive lightning bolt tore away from the light and crashed into the ground with devastating force. The explosion caused bolts of energy to scatter around until a small crater was left in the middle of the fighting stage.

_This is bad _Ranma thought to himself as he looked on towards the crater and spotted a blue light permeating from the centre. At first, the light was kneeling but slowly began to stand up as the energy around it began to spark chaotically before finally stabilising and taking something resembling human form. The creature was cold looking with grey skin and a slight shimmer as though stardust flowed through its veins.

"Is that you there, Kiagi?" Ranma asked moving closer towards the creature. But it said nothing and slowly lifted its head to stare at him with a pair of piercing silver eyes.

"Yo Kiagi, you plan on talking to me?" Ranma shouted again as he began to lose his patience. But the creature said nothing and continued staring blankly. It was as if it was in a hypnotic trance, completely unaware of the world around it.

"What happened to Kiagi?" Soun said as he looked on in disbelief and leaned over to akane's seat. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Me either daddy." Akane said turning round to face her father. "But I think Ranma's in trouble."

"This fight has taken a rather strange course, ladies and gentlemen." The announcer said, looking on at Kiagi's new form in disbelief. "I don't know what has happened to Kiagi, but as we look down at this creature taking his place, I have a great amount of concern for Ranma Saotome's wellbeing"

"Fine then," Ranma said, his patience finally gone, as he leaped forward to begin his assault. "Have it your way!"

Launching himself, Ranma prepared to strike the transformed sorcerer with all his might. But before he could make contact, Kiagi effortlessly stepped out of Ranma's way and cracked the back of his head with a hard backhand, causing his momentum to throw him completely off course and almost out of the ring. Thinking quickly, Ranma dug his heels into the tiles to stop himself from being victim of a ring out.

Watching her father teetering on the edge, Kaori was equally in danger of falling off the edge of her seat. "Daddy!" She screamed, startling her mother and grandparents behind her. "Don't fall!"

"Dont fall, She says!" Ranma said to himself teetering on the edge of the stage seconds away from losing. "Easy for you to say, sweetie." Finally, balance was restored and he managed to jump back onto a more secure area of the tiling.

"That was scary!" He sighed slumping down to his knees before looking behind him to see that Kiagi was still stood in the centre of the stage in the same statuesque position as before. "He hasn't even moved. He could have tried to take advantage and win but it's like he doesn't even know where he is. Just what the hell's going on here?"

"Just what the hell's going on here?" Ryoga asked looking on in disbelief. "Kiagi could have easily got a ring out there, but he didn't even look back to see where Ranma landed after he hit him."

"I know." Akari answered watching the fight in the same manner as her husband. "I'm not sure about this, but I don't even think he's concentrating on the fight anymore. His face just looks completely frozen."

Standing up, Ranma was somewhere between shocked and offended by Kiagi's utter lack of response.

"Don't you mock me, Kiagi!" He shouted, darting forward and unleashing a vicious onslaught of punches, kicks, elbows, knees and just about everything else he could throw at the sorcerer with all his might.

But to his surprise, Ranma's attacks hit only air. Nothing had connected with its target as Kiagi managed to dodge every single attack without any effort.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing, Saotome." Soun said, his hair standing on end from the shock "Ranma gave everything he had and Kiagi has avoided all of his attacks without even trying."

"Indeed." Genma said folding his arms. "It's almost as if his body is reacting entirely on its own."

"That's because it is." Kho Lon said from behind them.

"Kho Lon?" Akane said turning to face the old woman behind her father and father in law "Where did you come from?"

"What are you talking about?" Kho Lon asked back "I've been here for three hours. Your father in law stole my popcorn!"

"So that's where I got this." Genma said, throwing another kernel into his mouth before being smacked on the top of the head with the old woman's stick.

"Give me that!" She snapped stealing back her now half empty carton of popcorn. "In 3000 years of amazon history, I've never met anyone with as much greed as you, Genma Saotome!"

"Anyway," Akane interrupted "You said that Kiagi's body was reacting entirely on its own?"

"That's right child," Kho Lon answered "I may be wrong, but it looks as though Kiagi is using a technique called Mushen. It's a state of mind where the user's body relies entirely on Instinct without having to waste time thinking about a defence or a counter. It's said to be impossible but using this form, Kiagi has somehow managed to tap into Mushen's amazing properties. Problem is it takes a lot of energy to use this ability and this creature form appears to be siphoning a lot of Kiagi's life-force. If this keeps up, he risks burning himself out completely. "

"It's a pity Ranma doesn't know that." Soun said "if he did, he would just have to wait for Kiagi to drain himself off and he can win."

"But there's no telling how long that could take." Akane said "Ranma could end up using all of his strength first."

"Indeed." Kho Lon said "Whatever happens now, we are definitely in the closing minutes of this fight. And we still have no idea who's going to win."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

With his attacks being rendered useless, Ranma was at a loss for what to do next. I gotta think of something. He thought to himself as he tried to regain his composure. Everything I throw at Kiagi is just missing. As for Kiagi, he was still in his trance like state. The Mushen technique in full swing, as he began to step towards Ranma slowly, his footsteps sending strong vibrations across the fighting stage.

He's making his move. Ranma thought to himself as he slipped into the Umi Sen Ken again. This is the only chance I got. "It looks like Ranma is going invisible again." Ryoga said leaning forward to where Soun and Genma were sat.

"Yes." Genma said nodding his head "Let's see how this Mushen thing works against my Umi Sen Ken, heh heh heh..."

As Ranma made his move, Kiagi stood silently unfazed by the world around him. "I don't think he's even noticed that Ranma has gone invisible." Akane said looking on.

"Oh he knows alright," Kho Lo answered. "Kiagi is very much aware of everything that's going on around him." Suddenly, Kho Lon's point was proven, as Kiagi ducked Ranma's invisible attack effortlessly.

As they watched him continue to dodge the unseen offense, everyone was in awe of Kiagi's actions. "I don't get it!" Genma said with his jaw between his knees. "The Umi Sen Ken is designed to perfectly conceal one's attack. There's no way that anyone would be able to dodge what they can't even see!"

"Weren't you listening, Genma?" Nodoka said scolding her husband. "Kiagi isn't looking for Ranma. His body is relying on Instinct." As shocked as he was by Nodoka's explanation, Genma was even more surprised as he witnessed Kiagi suddenly reach his left hand out and grab the invisible Ranma out of thin air by the throat!

"OH SHIT!" Ranma gasped as he felt Kiagi's cold grey hand wrap around his throat, breaking his concentration and causing him to phase out of the Umi-Sen-Ken. Clutching his hands around Kiagi's arm, Ranma tried to break the creature's grip as he slowly began to run out of air.

"This is bad!" Kho Lon said watching the scene unfold. "In this state, Kiagi might kill Ranma if he's not too careful!"

Then Ranma's grip loosened and his arms dropped down to his sides, causing everyone's hearts to plummet in shock.

"RANMA!" Akane screamed at the top of her lungs "GET OUT OF THERE!"

"DADDY!" Kaori screamed. "NO!"

Suddenly the sound of his wife and daughter's screams miraculously snapped Ranma back into consciousness. "I ain't done yet!" He growled gripping Kiagi's hand tighter than he did before.

"Yes," Kiagi said surprising Ranma and causing him to freeze in shock. "You are." The sorcerer then released his grip and punched Ranma in the chest, firing him across the stage, out of the ring and crashing into the wall behind him.

For a moment, Ranma was stuck to the wall like a pancake. But as he slipped into unconsciousness, his body began to peel away from the bricks and slump down onto the sand below him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't believe what we have just seen." The Announcer called out "The winner of this epic war via ring out; Kiagi Yamada!"

As the audience cheered on Kiagi stood in the centre of the ring and looked around, revelling in his victory. The loss which occurred eight years ago was finally redeemed. He would have smiled. He would have bowed to his fans. But instead, Kiagi collapsed to his knees and vomited blood, before returning to his normal appearance and falling face-first to the floor.

"Master!" Bosu shouted climbing onto the stage and rushing to Kiagi's aid.

"It's exactly as I feared." Kho Lon said as Kiagi lay motionless on the floor "The Mushen technique has burnt out and it seems as though it's taken Kiagi down with it!"

"Master!" Bosu screamed climbing onto the fighting stage and rushing to the fallen sorcerer's side. Turning him over, Bosu was in shock at the amount of blood pouring from Kiagi's mouth. "Bosu, get out of the way!" Akane ordered, kneeling down next to them and pulling out a small vial from her bag.

"Come on Kiagi," Akane said opening the vial and pouring the clear green liquid down the sorcerer's bloody throat. "Don't die on me."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

With a sudden gasp of air, Kiagi's body returned to life and convulsed violently before settling down peacefully. "Is he dead?" Bosu asked leaning over his master's face and listening to his breathing.

Opening his eyes, Kiagi's vision was blurred at first. But as the swirls and blurs came into focus the first clear image was of a small, bald, fat man with a crooked nose leaning into his face. Naturally, Kiagi's reaction was to punch him. As quick as lighting, the sorcerer's fist came into contact with Bosu's face and the short fat bald man flew across the fighting stage and crashed into a pit of sand next to where Ranma was still lying. "Please tell me he didn't try the kiss of life!" Kiagi said springing up to a seated position.

"Oh thank goodness, you're ok." Akane said, wrapping her arms around Kiagi as he sat up.

Whilst receiving his hug, the sorcerer still had a look of concern on his face. "Seriously though," He said fearfully "Bosu didn't try to kiss me, did he?"

"Oh good he's alright" Soun said looking down at the fighting stage. "I honestly thought that he had killed himself!"

Climbing back onto the stage, Bosu's face was a bloody mess. "Dammit Kiagi!" He shouted holding his face "You broke my nose again!"

Lifting himself up gingerly, Kiagi shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Sorry old friend." He said snapping his fingers and repairing the short fat bald man's nose back to its former crooked self. "But don't lean over me like that. I have enough nightmares, they don't need company. By the way where's Ranma?"

"Oh!" Akane said spinning round to where her husband had fallen "I forgot about Ranma."

"You forgot?" Kiagi asked "You've been married to him for eight years, and you forgot about him? Quite the doting wife, aren't you?"

"Oh shut up, you were dying!" Akane said walking over to the steps of the fighting stage and moving across to where Ranma was laid out on the floor. Kneeling down by her husband's side, she stroked his thick black hair. "Ranma? You ok, honey?"

"Oh, now you care." Ranma groaned picking himself up. "I like how you went and helped Kiagi instead of me, Tomboy!"

Suddenly, Ranma was silenced by a large wooden mallet making contact with the back of his head. "I'll talk to you later, dear." Akane answered, flipping her husband off with her free hand as he was once again laid out on the sand.

"You can just feel the love between those two, can't you?" Nabiki said to which Tatewaki, Ryoga, Akari, Soun, Genma, Xian Pu and even Mu Tsu nodded in agreement. "Tis the truest of love which triumphs over even itself, Nabiki dear." Tatewaki answered.

"You've got to stop reading those novels, Tachi." Nabiki said kissing her husband's cheek "Anymore sweetness and I might end up with diabetes."

As Kiagi limped over to the edge of the fighting stage, looked to where Ranma and Akane where having yet another spat and couldn't help but smile. _I have the most interesting friends_ he thought to himself as he carefully stepped down from the stage and hobbled over to the Saotomes.

"What'd you hit me for this time?" Ranma shouted from the floor angrily as he picked himself back up.

"I have my reasons!" Akane shouted back with equal anger.

"You two will never change, will you?" Kiagi interrupted, sitting down next to his employee and his opponent. "For some reason, I believe arguing is what brings you closer together." He then clapped his hands together and produced a faint golden glow. "Now then, who wants healing?"

"I could do with some." Ranma said raising his hand meakly.

Kiagi grinned as he placed his glowing hands on Ranma's head "I thought as such." he said. The glow began to ripple through the air and the bodies of both Ranma and Kiagi, healing their wounds and returning them to their full strengths.

"Thanks Kiagi." Ranma said jumping back up to his feet and springing about on his feet. "Man, I thought you were gonna kill me with that weird zombie thing you were doing. What the heck was that thing anyway?"

Kiagi's face sank as he heard Ranma's question. "A very dangerous and foolish thing for me to do." He answered "Many years ago, I came across a book of forbidden techniques much like the one your father found the Cat-Fist in." Ranma shuddered as he thought about the trials he faced learning the Cat-Fist. He may have mastered it, but he still hated what it had done to him.

"Inside that book," He continued "I learned of a technique which allowed its user to access Mu-Shen; an ability where body and mind disconnect, letting instinct take over in battle. The impossible technique many consider to be the holy grail of martial arts was in my grasp, but the only way to access it was to create a new body for myself. One that would be able to take the strain of ignoring pain and react entirely on instinct. What you faced was something I like to call 'the creature'. But of course, this comes with a heavy price. The Creature drains too much of my stamina too quickly and limits the amount of time I can spend using it. The worst part about it is that once I awaken it, this form can't be switched off until it has taken every last drop of my strength."

"So that's why you collapsed and almost died!" Akane said concerned for her friend's well-being.

"I didn't almost die!" Kiagi protested "I'm immortal! Whatever damage The Creature does to me, can be healed once I get enough stamina to cast a spell, so you really didn't need to act. But of course, thank you for your help. What was that you poured down my throat anyway?"

"This." Akane answered showing her employer the now-empty vial. "The tears of Lazarus."

"The tears of Lazarus?" Kiagi asked, his face turning a dark green as Akane nodded. "Oh dear "

"What's wrong?" Akane asked

Kiagi cupped his forehead as he sighed. "That's made with my own urine."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"All I ever seem to do here is sweep." Bosu grunted as he swept the floor with as little enthusiasm as possible.

"Well to be fair," Kiagi said from his newspaper as waved his finger in the air and summoned his teacup to levitate from the backroom to his large leather chair next to the counter. He then took a sip and sighed in satisfaction. "That is what I pay you for."

"You don't pay me." Bosu said dropping the sweeping brush to the floor.

"No?" Kiagi asked lifting his gaze from his newspaper to the disgruntled dwarf. "You live here rent free and consume at least ¥10, 000 worth of candy a week which is either bought or magically produced by me. Tell me, how do I not pay you again?" Bosu's silence said it all.

"I thought as much" Kiagi said smiling as he snapped his fingers and the brush shot up from the floor and back into Bosu's fat stubby hand. Admitting defeat, the dwarf quietly continued sweeping.

It was at this point, the bell rang above the doorway, signalling the arrival of a customer walking though the door. "Good morning," Kiagi said lifting his gaze back up from his newspaper "How might we help you toda...OH FOR GOD'S SAKE RYOGA! NOT AGAIN!"

Ryoga stood in the doorway looking rather sheepish. "Erm.. Hi Kiagi." He said, scratching the back of his head. "I kinda need a new compass." The temptation for Kiagi to throw his tea at the young man in the bandana was undeniably strong. After all, this was the fourth compass Ryoga had somehow managed to lose in the past 8 years and the novelty had definitely worn off by now.

"You realise that this will be compass number 5 that I'll be giving you, don't you?" Kiagi asked getting out of his chair and pulling a ladder toward him. Climbing to the topshelf, he pulled down a large cardboard box and brought it down with him, settling it on the counter.

"Do have many compasses in that box?" Ryoga asked, curious about the box.

Kiagi shook his head. "This isn't a box full of compasses, my friend."

"Then what's in there?"

"Sentient Knives." The sorcerer answered coldly, opening the box and allowing several blades to fly towards the young man in the doorway.

Ryoga narrowly dodged the barrage of blades as they slammed into the doorway with vicious force."What the hell was that for?" He screamed, staring into the reflection on the blade.

"Stupidity annoys me." Kiagi answered before summoning the knives to return into their box with a sharp whistle. "And in all my years, I've rarely found anyone as stupid as you."

"Hey! I didn't come here to get insulted!" Ryoga snapped

"No, you came here for ANOTHER un-losable compass!" Kiagi snapped back "Your fifth one, I might add!"

"Look, I'll pay for this one!" Ryoga pleaded, trying to defend himself

"You should have paid for at least three of them!" Kiagi said "Fortunately for you, I seem to have become charitable in my old age. Now hold out your hand."

As instructed, Ryoga held out his hand and gave it to the sorcerer who cupped his hands underneath. Then, the familiar glow sparked in his palm before the outline of a small box came into sight. The box fully materialised and dropped into Ryoga's upturned hand.

"There you go, Ryoga. One new compass" Kiagi said "Might I suggest you use this one to find its predecessors?"

Ryoga bowed humbly, accepting his replacement wedding present. "Thanks Kiagi." He said "I promise I won't lose this one."

"See to it that you don't." Kiagi answered as he watched Ryoga leave. "I think next time, I'll just turn him into a compass."

"How does he keep losing those things?" Bosu asked as he finished sweeping and placed the brush in the corner of the shop.

Kiagi smiled, placing the lid back on the box. "The real question is how does he keep finding his way here without it?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Bosu looked at the holes that the magic knives left in the doorway. "Where did you get those knives anyway?" He asked, sticking his finger into one of the holes.

"Bosu, you should know better than to ask me questions like that." Kiagi answered, picking up the box and stepping up the ladder to place it back on the shelf. "You won't like the answer."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Okay guys, dinner time!" Ranma shouted from in the kitchen as he tasted the curry he'd made and switched off the rice cooker. "Kaori make sure you wash your hands!"

"Yes daddy" Kaori moaned as she turned away from her desk and left her room to go to the bathroom. As soon as she was done, the seven year old red head leapt down the stairs and bolted over to her spot at the dinner table like a crimson comet with her hands still dripping from the sink upstairs. Noticing her wet hands, she shook them dry, flinging water across the living room and onto her father who quickly changed into her much shorter biological mother. "Oops, sorry."

"It's fine sweetie," Ranma said laying the food on the table and kneeling down to her spot. "But next time, use a towel. Where's your mom?"

"I'm coming, hold your horses!" Akane called as she slowly made her way to the living room from the outside. Very carefully, she lowered herself down into a kneeling position. Halfway there she noticed Ranma's slender hands wrap around her arm and hold her gently. "I can do it, Ranma. I don't need your help!"

"Yeah that's what I said when I was pregnant," Ranma scoffed, reminding her wife of how she didn't like it either. "But you wouldn't let me sit down myself either, would ya?"

"Can we eat now?" Kaori asked, getting impatient as she began to start playing with her chopsticks.

"Yeah, we can eat now." Ranma said sitting back down. "Have you finished your homework?"

"Nearly," Kaori answered stuffing a spoonful of food into her mouth. "I'm a bit stuck on the algebra bit though."

"I can help you with that when we've finished dinner," Akane said "I used to love math when I was at school. I used to help your father with it too."

"Hey!" Ranma said slamming her cup down in protest. "I didn't need help all the time! I'm plenty smart!"

"Yeah but you suck at math!" Akane retorted before giggling causing Kaori to follow suit.

_I'm just the family punching bag in this house aren't I?_ Ranma thought to herself as she admitted defeat and quietly resumed eating. _Still, at least I can cook a meal without poisoning my family._

Ranma's attention quickly turned to her wife as Akane gently held her stomach, wincing. "You OK there Akane?" she asked concerned.

Akane nodded and smiled. "I think the baby's doing jumping jacks today." She chuckled as the discomfort stopped.

"Hmm," Ranma smiled, turning to her daughter. "You used to do that a lot to me, Kaori."

Kaori groaned as she listened to her father's pregnancy anecdote. "You're so embarrassing daddy." She whined.

"And that's my right as a parent." Ranma answered smiling before noticing that Akane was once again wincing. "You sure you're OK?"

"I'm fine." Akane answered firmly as she continued eating.

"Anyone home?" A voice called from the hallway as three sets of footsteps made their way towards the living room.

"In here!" Ranma answered as she watched Ryoga, Akari and Jiro come into the room and sit down by the table. "Grab a plate, there's plenty."

"Certainly smells good." Akari answered standing up and heading to the kitchen to retrieve three plates.

"Yay food!" Jiro shouted

"OK settle down Jiro," Ryoga said ruffling his son's hair. "Honestly, you'd think we didn't feed you!"

"Nothing wrong with a healthy appetite." Akane said smiling at the little black haired boy and leaning over to ruffle his hair. "What brings you into town anyway?"

"Ryoga needed to see Kiagi, so we thought we'd check in on you guys." Akari answered, sitting down to serve her husband and son.

"You didn't lose ANOTHER compass, did ya Ryoga?" Ranma said snidely.

"Hey shut up!" Ryoga snapped back, before hanging his head low to confirm Ranma's suspicions.

"You know Kiagi gets annoyed when you keep coming back for those?" Akane said, knowing full well her boss's temper. "So what'd he do this time?"

"He sent a bunch of magic knives after me." He answered meekly "And then when I went back in to get my backpack, he turned into a dragon and chased me down the street." At this point the whole house erupted with laughter much to Ryoga's chagrin. "It's not funny!"

The laughter stopped as Akane yet again began wincing. "Ok, now I know you're definitely not fine, Akane!" Ranma said sternly "I'm gonna call Dr. Tofu."

"Will you relax? I said I'm FINE!" Akane said before her discomfort became pain and she began to clutch her stomach. "Actually, I think you better call him."

"Here we go again." Akari said

"What's wrong?" Ryoga asked

"It looks as though you've kick-started another Saotome labour, Ryoga." Ranma said standing up to reach her phone from off the counter. "Here comes baby no.2!"


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Tensions were high in the waiting room as the entire Tendo/Saotome family spread across in wait for the new arrival. "OK Ryoga," Akari said, standing by the window in the hopes that it would give her phone a better signal. "I'll call later to let you know if what happens. I love you too."

She then switched off her phone and sat down beside Nodoka who was knitting a lemon coloured cardigan and had just added the finishing touches. "Is Kaori alright?" she asked putting her knitting down to one side. "Did she get to sleep ok without Ranma and Akane?"

"She's fine." Akari answered "Ryoga said she and Jiro went down about an hour ago after watching Super Sentai. Have I missed anything?"

"Nothing yet." Nodoka answered as she spotted Genma almost fall off of his chair while asleep. "Genma go back home, dear. You and Soun look tired."

Genma shook his head and readjusted himself in the seat. "It's my duty as a Saotome to stand by and welcome my new grandchild." He said proudly before yawning. "Isn't that right, Tendo?" To Genma's surprise, Soun was fast asleep in his chair. "Tendo?" He said nudging Soun hard in the ribs.

"Eh? What?" Soun sprang into life before sitting upright and following Genma's lead. "Indeed Saotome. I've been witness to all of my grandchildren being born and today will be no exception."

Nabiki rolled her eyes as she remembered her father's involvement in the birth of her sons. "As I seem to recall Daddy," she said peering over her magazine. "When Hitoshi was born, all you did was sit in the corner crying about how you were getting old. Then you and Mr. Saotome kidnapped Tatewaki and went drinking for three days. Then when Shinsuke was born, you all went missing for a week!"

Tatewaki's face screwed up at his wife's comment as he tried to remember the births of his children. "I have no memory of that happening either time" he thought to himself smiling as Soun and Genma quietly dropped their heads.

Nabiki scoffed as she watched them "That's what I thought." she said Turing back to her magazine.

Suddenly, the doors to the waiting room opened and two figures emerged from the door way. Kasumi? Ranma?" Nodoka said looking at the pair as she noticed the distant stare in her son's eyes." Is everything alright?"

Kasumi turned to her brother in law and waited for him to speak. But he didn't. He was almost frozen in shock. "Well," she said "I really don't think that I should be the one to tell you this but..."

"What's wrong, Kasumi?" Soun cried out as he jumped out of his seat. "Is Akane alright? Please tell me she's alright!"

"T.." Ranma muttered

"What's that, boy?" Soun said looking at his watch "It's 10:30."

"T.." Ranma said again.

"Hmm" Tatewaki's said turning to face Ranma who he believed was talking to him, "What is it?"

"Oh for goodness sake!" Genma said snatching Ranma by the shirt and pulling him over. "Spit it out! What are you trying to tell us boy!?"

The sudden shock of being grabbed and pulled into his father's face had suddenly reignited Ranma's brain. Coming back to his senses, he simply snapped forward and head-butted his father right on the nose. "Cut it out, ya old fart!" he shouted "Can't you see I'm in shock?!"

"What on earth is going on in here?" Dr. Tofu said as he popped his head through the door and noticed Genma with a bloody face and a chair in his hands over his head. "I take it the news didn't go down too well?"

"Actually dear," Kasumi answered "Ranma hasn't told them yet. I don't think he's quite gotten over the shock yet"

"Shock's an understatement if you ask me!" Ranma said

"Please Ono," Nodoka said "Tell us, is Akane alright?"

Dr. Tofu smiled "Oh yes," he said much to everyone's relief "Mother and babies are doing just fine."

"Oh thank goodness!... Wait, what?!" Soun said wiping his brow, "Did you say babies? As in more than one?"

"Well, yes." Dr. Tofu said, wiping his glasses. "Congratulations. You are the grandparents of a beautiful boy and girl!"

At this point, Ranma fell down into the seats behind him and finally began to speak the words he was so lost on before. "Twins." He finally said as the room quickly became hushed by the news. "We've got twins!"


	10. Chapter 9

Within seconds of the news being absorbed the entire Saotome, Tendo, Kuno and Hibiki families burst out of the waiting room and flooded the hospital's hallways in search of the private maternity rooms.

** "**Achoo!" Sneezed a groggy and exhausted Akane, before quickly covering her mouth so as not to disturb her twins. Sitting up slowly, she then listened to the sound of what could only be described as a stampede coming down the hallway in her direction.

The stampede moved closer and closer to Akane's location. "Could you please stop running in the hallways?" one of the nurses said causing the horde to slow down to a snail's pace.

"Sorry." Kasumi said stopping to bow apologetically to the nurse as everyone else just moved on slowly.

"Oh." Akane said as she suddenly heard the footsteps slow down. "Well that's a relief. Maybe it wasn't who I thought it was-"

KNOCK KNOCK!

"Crap!"

KNOCK KNOCK!

Akane looked over to the twins with a worried look on her face. "This is it, you two." She said bracing herself for the inevitable "You've had a few moments of peace, but now I guess it's time to meet your family."

At that moment, the door opened. She expected the horde of family to burst through and smother all three of them with "ooh's", "Ahh's" and all kinds of over-powering affection that no-one who was only hours away from unexpectedly giving birth to twins should be facing without rest, coffee or even a shower!

She didn't, however expect to see a giant teddy bear make its way through the door. "What the Hell?!" Akane said, unsure of what was happening.

"Only me!" Kiagi said popping his head from behind the oversized plush. "This hospital's a maze!"

"Oh, Hi Kiagi!" Akane said, calming down from the shock before gazing at the massive teddy bear. "That teddy's huge!"

"I know, it's great isn't it?" Kiagi said smiling "Bosu's dragging the other one around somewhere, he'll be here soon."

"Oh You didn't have to do that-" Akane said before stopping as she heard what Kiagi said. "-What do you mean 'other one'?"

"Well I thought it would be a good idea to get two." Kiagi explained "That way the twins would get one each."

"Wait, hold on a second. How do you know I had twins?" Akane asked

"Akane, what's the point in being able to sense chi if you don't use it once in a while?" Kiagi answered grinning as Akane realised that he knew the entire time.

"So you knew the whole time, that I was having twins." She said, to which the sorcerer nodded. "Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I just assumed you and Ranma found out during one of your scans and decided not to tell anyone." He answered.

"No," Akane protested "Everytime we did a scan, it only showed one baby."

"Well, you were quite a size." Kiagi said. "What did you think it was? Gas?"

Akane chuckled to herself as she remembered her initial suspicions. "Maybe." She said to which the sorcerer simply laughed. She would have joined in that laughter but exhaustion was playing a bigger hand than it was a few moments ago.

"Gotta say, you look terrible." Kiagi said sympathetically "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a car." She answered weakly. "Seriously, how did Ranma manage this?"

"Probably because he gets his ass kicked on a regular basis and therefore has a higher threshold for pain." He explained "That and unlike you, Ranma only gave birth to one baby."

Akane shrugged her shoulders. "Sounds about right." She said.

"Anyway," Kiagi said clapping his hands together and making them glow. "This should help." He then held Akane's hands and poured his restorative energy into her.

Feeling refreshed and energised, Akane smiled. "That's much better." She said turning over to see her new son and daughter. "Do you want to see them?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Kiagi said, walking around the bed to get a better look at the twins. The baby on the left, the boy, had a full head of dark blue hair much like his mother. His sister had their father's jet black hair and lay peacefully beside her brother as they both took a well deserved rest. Kiagi gently lowered his hand into the cot and stroked each of their cheeks. "Beautiful. Just like your mother. Welcome to the world. Sorry about the other bear, but a fat goblin is bringing it and should be here soon. "

He then turned to face Akane as he took his hand away. "Have you thought of any names?"

"Well, we had a few in mind, this time." Akane said "Let's see..."

Suddenly the door burst open and the entire Saotome, Tendo and Kuno families spilled in from the hallway. "Oh well isn't this a pleasant surprise?" Kiagi said sarcastically. "And what do you fine folk want?"

"Hi Kiagi," Ranma said from the bottom of the pile of humanity. "Everyone wanted to see the twins. Nice bear, by the way."

"Thank you, it's for your kids." Kiagi answered leaning against the giant bear. "Bosu should be along with the other one soon."

"Other one?" Ranma asked standing up and dusting himself off. "How'd you know we were having twins?"

"I'll get to that later." Kiagi said as the door opened again revealing the second massive bear bursting into the room and wedging most of the people (except Akane and the babies, thankfully).

"BOSU!" Kiagi shouted pinned to the ceiling by both plush and Genma's back. "Don't bring that bear in now!"

"I am bringing it now!" Bosu shouted back pushing the giant teddy which was now wedged in the door.

"No, I said stop!"

"I'm pushing the top!"

"No, I said.." Kiagi shouted before realising how pointless his efforts were. "Oh for goodness sake." He then snapped his fingers and caused both of the giant teddy bears to shrink to a tenth of their size and free everyone from their predicament.

As soon as he fell to the floor, Kiagi jumped right back onto his feet and smacked Bosu on the top of the head.

"What was that for?" Bosu shouted, rubbing his head.

"You know what it was for, idiot!" Kiagi shouted "First you get lost carrying a giant teddy bear around and then you try to wedge said bear into a small hospital room and almost suffocate us in the process!"

"But you said to bring it in!"Bosu explained

"I said DON'T bring it in, you twit!" Kiagi shouted back.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"They're so beautiful." Nodoka said staring at her newborn grandchildren. "I still can't believe you were having twins this whole time, Akane."

"You can't believe it?" Ranma said "We thought we only had one baby coming. Now we've gotta double up on everything!"

"Don't look at me," Genma said scratching the back of his head "I'm broke!"

"Who'd want your help!?" Ranma retorted.

"What do you mean boy?" Genma answered, crossing his arms "I did a fine job raising you."

"Wild animals could've done a better job in raisin' me." Ranma said, planting his elbow firmly into his father's face.

"Well," Akane intervened before things took a turn for the worse "Kiagi did teach me a spell which should help us out on that. He said it was a duplication spell or something like that."

"Well just make sure you only use it on the kids' stuff and not the kids." Ranma snorted "We don't need six of them!"It was at this time, Ranma found the contents of a vase on Akane's bedside in his face. "What was that for?" she shouted, now wet and covered in daffodils.

"Maybe because my **wife** is being a jerk!" Akane answered sticking her tongue out at the soaking wet redhead.

"Alright you two, that's enough." Nodoka said, getting in between the feuding couple. She then handed her daughter a towel to dry herself off as she picked the daffodils out of her ruby hair. "It would be nice if the two of you could get along long enough to come up with some names for these two little angels."

"Fair enough, mom." Ranma said, drying herself off with the towel as she stared at her two newborn children. "So, what do you think Akane?"

"Hmm.." A whole array of names flooded through Akane's head. "Oh, I know! Ranma, didn't we already pick names for a boy and a girl?"

"Oh yeah, we did!" Ranma said scrambling through her pockets. "I wrote them down on a card and…..Left it on the counter in the kitchen."

"You dummy!" Akane said, scowling at her wife. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

Just then, the door open and through it came what could only be described as a flash of red lightning. It then bolted through the room and crashed into Ranma.

"Oof!" Ranma exhaled, catching her fully energized daughter and almost falling off her chair. "Hey Kaori, I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Hi Daddy! Where's the baby?" Kaori said looking in every direction but the right one. "Do I have a little brother or a little sister?"

"You have both." Akane said pointing to the cot beside her. "Come and see."

Curiously, Kaori hovered over to the other side of the bed. Her eyes widened with shock and surprise at what she saw. "Wow, two babies!" She squealed jumping up and down with excitement. "Now I've got a brother AND a sister. So, what are their names?"

"Well that's the problem," Akane said turning her head towards Ranma. "Your father forgot to bring the list of names with her before we left."

"Hey, don't pin this on me!" Ranma snapped back "We were in a rush! It's not as though could sat and twiddled my thumbs while you were screamin' at me!"

"Is this the list, Daddy?" Kaori said pulling out a small sheet of paper from her pocket and opening it. "You told me to hold onto it when you were getting Mom's bag."

"That's the one!" Ranma said taking the list from her daughter and ruffling her hair. "Great job, sweetie."

As she looked at the list, Ranma noticed that more names had been crossed out than before. "Kaori, did you cross out some of these names?" she asked.

Kaori nodded her head and smiled. "Yeah." She said "Most of 'em were boring. Actually, ALL of them were boring, so I wrote some down too."

Ranma chuckled as she looked at the names "Well, you didn't give us many options." She said "You only wrote down one boy name. And I think the rest are from TV shows."

Kaori huffed and crossed her arms. "Still more interesting than your names." She said pouting.

"So what are they?" Akane said leaning over in the bed "I can't see."

"Well," Ranma said "The only boy name, which is actually pretty good, is Hideo."

"Hmm," Akane mused before smiling "I like that. Good pick, Kaori! And for a girl?"

"Like I said, they're mostly from TV." Ranma said before turning to Kaori and smiling. "But I really like the name Chihiro."

"Then it's settled!" Akane said "Hideo and Chihiro Saotome!"

"Finally!" Nodoka said relieved, as she walked over to the cot and picked up the twins. "I was worried we were going to have to leave these poor two nameless. Good choices, Kaori."

"Yeah, well done kiddo!" Ranma said smiling at her daughter before realising something. "Wait a minute, how did you get here anyways?"

"Oh yeah, Uncle Ryoga and Jiro brought me here." She said "They dropped me off at the door before finding a parking space."

"Oh I hope they didn't get lost again" Akane said.

_**Meanwhile, in Russia. **_

"Dad, are you sure there's a space here?" Jiro asked. Instead of answering, Ryoga head-butted the steering wheel and groaned.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Ranma breathed in slowly and closed his eyes. "Here we go," he said, cracking his knuckles. "3..2..1..go!"

His hands blazed in front of him at the speed of light. Each movement made was done with precision and care. "Done! Stop the clock!" he shouted, panting and wiping his brow. "Co how was that?"

Kaori looked at the stopwatch and grinned. "2.3 seconds." she said showing her father the time. "Not bad."

"Hmm, I'm usually quicker than that." Ranma said looking down at the freshly changed twins and smiling. "But then again, I got the two of you to change this time, didn't I?" Chihiro smiled at her father and giggled. Hideo sneezed and then yawned. "Well, you can't please everyone."

"Ranma!" Akane shouted from downstairs, "Are you done? The bus is here now!"

"Coming down now, Akane." Ranma called back, picking up Hideo. "Kaori, can you bring your sister downstairs?" Nodding her head, Kaori picked up Chihiro and followed her father in carrying her down the stairs.

"You ready to go?" Akane asked, picking up her bag and placing it on her shoulder. "Ryoga and Akari are outside now."

"Yeah we're ready." Ranma answered "Hey why's Ryoga driving us anyway? He's just gonna get us lost again."

"I HEARD THAT, ASSHOLE!" Ryoga shouted from the driver's seat

"LIKE I CARE!" Ranma shouted back, flipping his friend off at the same time. "Anyway, I'm surprised that van of yours still runs after going to Russia an' back!"

"There's not a thing wrong with my van!" Ryoga answered, just as the driver's side wing mirror fell off and smashed onto the ground. "... It's supposed to do that."

Ranma was about to laugh, but a quick elbow to the ribs from Akane put a swift stop to that.

"Don't worry guys," Akari said getting out of the van and giving Kaori and Hideo a hug. "I'll be navigating. Besides we've been to this beach plenty of times so we know where we're going."

Ranma smiled to himself _remind me to tell you about the time your husband got lost in his own house, Akari. _He thought to himself as he took Chihiro to the car and placed her gently in her car seat. He then reached over to check on Hideo's seat and smiled as he watched Kaori get in by herself. "Won't be long till you two are doing that." he said smiling at the twins.

"Don't try to make them grow up too fast, Ranma." Akane said getting into her seat behind the kids. "I like them just the way they are."

"Yeah me too." Ranma said sitting next to his wife.

"OK, is everyone ready?" Ryoga asked

"All set!" Akari said getting back into her seat and putting on her seat belt

"Then off we go!" Ryoga answered, starting the van and beginning the long (but hopefully not too long) trip to the beach.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Ranma!" Ryoga finally snapped turning around to face Ranma "If you don't stop that, I'll break your teeth!"

"I aint doing nothin'!" Ranma said trying to look innocent. "I'm just staring out the window and enjoying the view on this LONG trip! Pretty sure we saw that tree about an hour ago."

"Ranma!" Akane scolded "Stop teasing Ryoga, he's doing just fine!"

"Yeah daddy, you're just being mean, now." Kaori chimed in.

"Oh fine!" Ranma huffed, crossing his arms. "I was just tryin' to have a little fun."

Eventually, the van arrived at the beach and Ryoga parked up, letting everyone get out and unpack.

"Ranma, did you remember to pack the sun screen for the kids?" Akane asked

"Yeah it's in the bag." Ranma said patting the satchel on his side.

"What about Kaori's sunglasses?" She asked

"They're on her head." Ranma answered pointing to his daughter's crimson hair.

"I'm sure we forgot something." Akane said stroking her chin.

"Akane, will you relax?" Ranma said, trying to reassure his wife. "I brought the sun screen. Kaori's got her sunglasses on. I got the towels, the spare clothes, the diapers, the money, the food and the drinks. I even made sure the front and the back doors were locked at the house AND the dojo. Trust me tomboy, I didn't forget anything."

Just then, Ranma was splashed in the face by a child running past with a water pistol, triggering his change from a young man wearing a T-shirt and shorts to a shorter buxom redheaded woman wearing only her dragon's coil bracelet.

"Um, Ranma?" Akane said beginning to blush as she stared at her wife's naked body. "I think you might have forgotten to get dressed after you were in the shower."

*click*

Everyone turned as they heard the sound of Nabiki's camera flashing. "You know Ranma, it's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to take snaps like these." She said grinning as she took more photos "I wonder if these will still fetch a good price!"

As Ranma looked into Nabiki's direction, she saw that her sister-in-law wasn't alone. In fact, Mrs. Kuno had brought along her husband, their two sons and the entire extended family with them.

"Oh my, Ranma." Nodoka gasping as she looked at her daughter in both shock and slight pride. "You might want to cover yourself up a bit dear, before you attract too much attention."

_I didn't think it was that kind of beach! _Genma signed.

"MOM!" Ranma screamed, hands blurring in an attempt to block her mother's (and everyone else's) view. "POP!"

Ryoga chuckled as Akari covered Jiro's eyes. _I love karma. _He thought to himself, watching Ranma squirm and trying to frantically cover herself.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

After a quick change back with some hot water and after a trip to the local stores, Ranma was kitted with a new bikini to wear. "Hmm," she pondered looking at her reflection in the changing room mirror. The orange two piece bikini hugged her figure beautifully and fully showed off the redhead's curves. "It ain't really my colour. But it's sure better than going out naked!"

Just then, she felt a hand gently caress her hips. "Not bad, Ranma." Akane said, coming into the changing room and wrapping her arms around Ranma's waist. "You look good in orange. Though to be honest, I think I preferred you **without** the bikini on."

"Well, play your cards right and you might just see it again," Ranma teased, turning round to kiss her wife. "Now come on, Akane. I wanna hit some waves."

Outside, Ryoga and Tatewaki were staring out towards the ocean. "Looks like perfect surfing weather today." Tatewaki said, watching the waves crash "Do you plan on riding the waves, Ryoga?"

Ryoga chuckled and crossed his arms. "Sure am." He said "I bought a load of waterproof soap from Kiagi before we left, so I'm definitely surfing this time. Should've probably given some to Ranma earlier. Maybe she could have avoided the peep show."

Tatewaki thought about seeing Ranma's naked form earlier and reminisced. "You know, I can't tell you the amount of times I wanted to see that body of hers when we were still in school." He said. "If only I'd known better then. Still though, she still has a great look about her, doesn't she?"

"If you say so." Ryoga said, rolling his eyes before remembering the times that he himself had been fooled by Ranma's charms. "Although then again, there's been a few times that Ranma's tricked me like that as well."

"Are you two gonna stand there yakkin' all day?" Ranma said, walking in between them with a large blue surfboard. "Come on, there's surfin' to do!"

And with that, Tatewaki and Ryoga grabbed their boards and followed the redhead out to the sea. The waves were crashing furiously as the three surfers made their way out. But by the time they swam out far enough, Tatewaki , Ryoga and Ranma found that the waves were gone and that the sea had calmed.

"What happened to the waves?" Ryoga asked, sitting up on his board and staring out to the horizon.

"You probably scared them off!" Ranma said chuckling to herself.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Hold on, you two!" Tatewaki said pointing outwards. "There's one coming this way!"

The pair stopped their arguing a looked to where Tatewaki was pointing. "It doesn't look that big." Ranma said bored.

"Ranma's right. That wave is puny." Ryoga agreed, equally as bored as his rival. However as they watched it, the wave grew larger and more fierce as it hurtled towards them.

"Well, that's more like it!" Ranma beamed watching the wave grow. "Anyone for a race?"

"Ha! You're on, Saotome!" Tatewaki said as he started paddling toward the wave. "I'll have you know I was champion surfer in college. They even called me the Blue Shark!"

"Oh yeah?" Ryoga shouted, smiling wryly "Well in my old nickname used to be the Wave Lord!"

_This feels familiar somehow_ Ranma thought to herself as she watched Tatewaki and Ryoga exchange surfing nicknames with one another. But as the wave became larger she changed her concentration and headed out toward the riptide.

As the waves began to carry them, the race between the three competitors was on."Yahooo!" Ranma shouted gliding down the wave and overtaking Tatewaki and Ryoga. "Come on slowpokes!"

"Hmm.." Tatewaki mused as he watched his red haired sister in law take the lead. "She thinks she can just win that easily. Methinks my dear sister in law is becoming quite naive." And with that, he shot out ahead leaving Ryoga far behind.

"They think they can just leave me in the dust huh?" Ryoga said to himself as he tried to speed up but instead the Wave Lord managed to fall off the board and into the water.

With the two racers left, the competition was fierce. As they came close to one another, Ranma began to feel the pressure. "Hey so I guess that whole 'Blue Shark' thing wasn't just a load of hogwash, eh?" she shouted over.

Tatewaki smiled. "Oh my dear sister in law, I think you'll find that the only hog that's been washed is Ryoga." He joked "As for my surfing prowess, I promise you that was nothing short of the truth!"

"Is that so, huh?" Ranma chuckled, "This just got interesting."

As he resurfaced, Ryoga watched Tatewaki and Ranma surf ahead of him toward the shore with disappointment. "Damn it!" he said "I really thought I was gonna win that one."

"I told you they'd start competing with each other." Nabiki said watching the race through as set of binoculars.

"It was never a question of 'if'," Akane said, applying sun lotion onto Kaori's face. "It was 'when'."

"So who's winning, Auntie?" Kaori asked

"At the moment it's a tie between your dad and your uncle Tachi."Nabiki answered "Care to make a wager on the winner?"

"No she doesn't." Akane proclaimed, "Kaori, it's never a fair bet when your Aunt Nabiki gets involved."

"Moi?" Nabiki said, almost (but not entirely) offended as she tried to play innocent. "I would never cheat in a bet against a child. Especially my oldest neice."

"Nabiki, I've seen you cheat your own kids." Akane interjected, looking at her sister deadpanned.

"Well, I had no choice!" Nabiki defended "It was either that or let them go on vacation with their Grandpa! Could you imagine what would happen if I let them be unsupervised with Tachi's dad?"

Akane thought about it for a moment before laughing and cupping her forehead. "Oh my god!" she said "They'd either come back with their heads shaved or with a giant bag of coconut bombs!"

"Or both!" Kaori said causing both her Auntie and her mother to laugh even harder.

Just then, Ranma came up to them, holding her surf board. "So what are you two laughing at?" She asked planting her board into the sand and sitting down next to her wife and daughter.

"Oh nothing much," Akane said "I take it you won the race, then?"

"Hmph!" Ranma scoffed flexing her arms "Ain't nobody gonna beat me."

Just then Tatewaki came along holding a tray full of ice creams. "Ah there you are Ranma." He said handing Nabiki an ice cream before placing the tray down and taking one for himself. "I was wondering when you'd finish."


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The clock ticked by agonisingly slow as Bosu sat behind the counter at the empty Dragon's eye. "I'm soooooooo bored!" he groaned staring at the clock which had only moved five minutes despite the fact that he could have sworn that an hour had passed. "I wish I had some chocolate." However, his wish was to be denied as he stared at the pile of empty chocolate wrappers which stood almost as tall as he was.

"That looks like him, Vice Chairman." A mysterious man said looking from his binoculars in his perched location in the trees.

"Let me see." The Vice Chairman said, taking the binoculars and looking into the shop window at Bosu. He then opened his dossier and compared the photo inside with what he could see. "Yes, I think you're right, Wan. It's definitely him!"

"What do you want to do then, sir?" Wan asked

"Tell the team to move out." The Vice Chairman said, tucking Wan's binoculars into his own pocket. "Tell them to make sure Kinnii is standing by. Last time we were in this town, we had trouble."

Back in the store, Bosu continued to stare at the clock and leaned against the counter. He pulled out his phone and checked to see if he had any messages. "Ugh!" he groaned again, looking at the lack of activity on his screen. "I just wish something interesting would happen. I don't even care what it is!"

Little did he know Bosu was about to get his wish as the door opened allowing two men in uniform to enter the store. "Hello," Bosu said lifting himself up and standing up in order to pretend not to be bored. "What can I do for you toda-ARGH!" His attempt at customer service was cut short by the giant net which was thrown over him. "Hey! What the hell?! LET ME GO!"

"We've got him, Vice Chairman." Wan said, jumping onto the net and using his weight to hold his captive down. "Good work, Wan." The Vice Chairman said "Now let's get him back to Jusenkyo and we can begin the treatment."

Just then, the Vice Chairman and Wan turned towards the back of the store as they heard the footsteps of someone coming. "I'm back, Bosu!"

When Kiagi walked into the front on the store, he was met with a strange sight indeed. In front of him were three people. The one he knew was currently trapped in a net and being held down by two that he didn't.

"Well this is certainly an interesting turn of events." He said leaning against the counter to observe the scene. "I can't leave the store for three minutes without you getting into some sort of bother, can I?"

"You've been gone for five hours!" Bosu answered back from under the net.

"I hardly think that's the point, dumb-dumb." Kiagi said, clicking his fingers and lifting the two men off of the whining fat dwarf and onto the floor unceremoniously before evaporating the net that was also on top of him. "So what'd he do this time?"

"This is no concern of yours!" The vice chairman said rising up to his feet. "Who are you, wizard?"

"Do you see a pointy hat and cape?" Kiagi snapped, quite offended. "I'm a sorcerer! Wizards have to learn magic, I was born with it. Now I'll ask again, why are you trying to procure my assistant?"

"He's wanted for crimes against the codes of our ancient and secret organisation." He said proudly "The Jusenkyo Preservation Society has existed for thousands of years-"

"Oh, I know you guys." Kiagi said much to the surprise of the vice chairman.

"Wait, what-?" he said

"Secret organisations don't usually tend to have Twitter." Kiagi pointed out, causing the vice chairman to grumble and moan.

"Hmmph, dammit Wan!" He said scolding his underling. "I told you not to make that account!"

As far as Wan was concerned, he knew for a fact that it was actually the Vice Chairman's idea. But rather than point that out and cause an argument which would have likely ended at the wrong end of Kinnii's sword, he decided it was best just to take the blame and keep quiet.

"Now secret organisations failing to remain secret are one thing," Kiagi said walking around the counter before jumping back to sit on it. "But two idiots trying to kidnap a third is quite another. I don't know what crimes Bosu has done but you're not taking him anywhere. He still has to make dinner for tonight."

"Is that seriously the only reason you keep me around these days?" Bosu cried.

"Quiet you!" Kiagi said

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" The Vice Chairman said "You come in here and interfere in our business and now you just sit there as if you own the damn place!"

"Well actually I do." Kiagi answered "My name's Kiagi Yamada. And I'm the owner of this store."

"Wait, Yamada?" The Vice Chairman said "Wan! Search the files!"

Wan looked into his small satchel and pulled out another dossier. His eyes lit up as he found exactly what he was looking for. "Yes Vice Chairman," He said excitedly "This man is on our list! He's been using his curse to maintain an eternal life!"

"What curse does he have?" The Vice Chairman asked

Much to the disappointment of Wan, the page turned out to be missing. "Hmm...It doesn't say." He said sadly.

"Well no matter," The Vice Chairman said "I'm sure we'll find out when we take him back to headquarters."

"Oh, so now you want me too?" Kiagi said folding his arms and grinning. "Well I'm sorry but neither of us are going anywhere."

"Hah!" The vice Chairman said chuckling to himself before snapping his fingers. "We'll see about that!"

The sound of clicking fingers was soon followed by another, more sinister sound. The sound of heavy footprints making their way towards the door.


End file.
